Feral or Chimera
by author12306
Summary: When Ed and Al are separated to search for a pack of man-eating chimera Ed comes across a feral child traveling with the pack. No one is really sure how the girl found the pack, but Ed now has to try to get her back to Central with only his own help. (This is just the prologue to see if y'all would read it. Rated for blood, death, and violence.)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or FMAB

A/N: By the way, I know this is OOC in many ways but I think Ed would act differently in this situation because he pities the Chimera Girl. ALSO, THIS IS IMPORTANT! I am posting this prologue to see if anyone would be interested in reading this. Please do leave a review or follow or favorite if you would be interested in me continuing this story.

* * *

Prologue

_Food, _the singular thought echoed through her head as she moved through the deep snow behind a wolf-alligator chimera. On either side of her chimeras trotted with their ears back against the howling wind and snow. The large, blonde-furred leader stopped and turned towards the rest of the pack. A low howl split the air from the female's throat.

_Human place, _the girl thought as she looked at her pack mates. Her long, matted hair hung down her back and her toes and fingers were numb in the snow. The pack around her shifted to form a tighter group. She took her place in the back with her head hung low against the blowing snow. Her fingers were swollen and discolored from the deep snow and ice that she had traveled on for days. As the pack formed a tight group they charged in-between the far apart buildings that dotted the edge of the city. The moon hung heavy, obscured by hazy clouds.

A low growl broke through from the left side of the group.

_Human, weapon, _the girl's thoughts were simple as she turned with the pack. Her foot caught in the snow and she fell. The others rushed past her. She stood just in time to feel cold metal on her wrist. She fought with overgrown nails and rotting teeth against the strong hands that tried to restrain her. Low growls and barks echoed as the pack frenzied to attack the human. Blood spilled across the snow as the human fell to the ground and the chimeras ripped flesh from his bones. The girl stayed back, she had been told by leader to never eat human but food they took from human. She watched as cloth ripped and claws shredded flesh. Her moth watered at the thought of food. She was dizzy with fatigue and her hands burned from the snow. Her sides burned from running moments before and she wanted to lay down on the soft snow, _why so cold? _She thought as she sank closer to the ground. Her stomach growled and she looked around for food. The other chimera left only bones, hardly any cloth from the man's clothes remained as the pack trotted further into the small, northern town. The girl fell behind the tight formation and let her hands drag through the snow.

Leader turned around and barked.

_Hurry? _The girl thought as she tried to push forward. She followed, and soon the buildings grew farther apart. Trees began to occupy the space. Less snow covered the ground and the pack found a large clearing.

Leader's son barked.

_Sleep, _the girl thought as she let herself sink to the ground. As soon as her head rested on the group she was asleep.

* * *

"Brother, where are we going again?" Al asked as he followed Ed to the train station through a crowded Central City street.

"The report was vague, Al. I have to go somewhere near the Amestris-Auergo border; a city near there's been having trouble with a pack of chimeras and a feral girl with them," Ed explained as best he could with the little information provided.

"Brother, are you going to have to kill the girl?" Al asked in concern.

"If we can't find a way to bring her here," Ed looked disturbed by the thought.

The sound of a train whistle drowned out whatever either brother said after that as they ran to catch the train.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was kinda short, I know, but they'll be longer after this. I kinda had to end it here for it to be a prologue. If you read this, I really wanna thank you because it means a lot to me that you took time to read it. And please R&amp;R, I'd really appreciate it and tell me if there's anything I can fix :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 1

Ed cursed in frustration as he walked back to the hotel where he and Al were staying. He had figured out the pack of chimeras had passed through a week before and were no longer in the city near Central they had gotten to. They had gone from city to city from the Amestris-Auergo border and were almost back to Central City with no progress. As Ed opened the door and walked into the room he and Al were sharing he noticed his brother sitting in the corner with his back facing the door. A small _meow _caught Ed's attention.

"Al, did you bring another flea bag with you?" Ed asked in agitation as his brother turned around holding a small, emaciated, mangy pelted kitten.

"Brother, it's so skinny. Can't I keep it for a little while?" If Al had had a human body he'd be doing the puppy-dog eyes.

"No," Ed responded in his usual annoyance at his brother's love of kittens.

"But brother, can you really throw this kitten back outside to starve?" Al asked as he held the kitten up. It looked at Ed and meowed quietly.

"Put it back where you found it, Al! Or find someone else who'll take it," Ed refused again.

Al sighed and walked towards the door. The sigh echoed through his armor as he held the kitten gently. He walked down the stairs of the hotel and then through the lobby. He emerged onto the busy street. "I'm sorry, kitty, but I have to leave you here," Al sighed again as he set the kitty back in the alley next to the hotel where he had found it.

The cat meowed and looked at Alphonse longingly as the suit of armor walked noisily back towards the hotel. As Al walked back into the hotel room he saw Ed glaring at a newspaper.

"What's that, Brother?" Al asked.

"Now there's a news article about a man killed and eaten by a pack of chimeras in a small city near that massive fort up north," Ed growled, "And another about a woman who was mauled in South City. Both of them were released on the same day."

"What if one of us went north and the other went south?" Alphonse suggested.

Ed looked as if he were debating it internally before he said, "Yeah. I guess I'll go north then."

"I can look south, and if we find them we'll call and then we'll meet up wherever we find them," Al agreed.

* * *

"Why'd I pick to search up north?" Ed grumbled quietly to himself as he walked along the snow-covered streets. He had given up on keeping his hood over his head because the wind kept blowing it back. He was wearing a slightly thicker, fur trimmed coat and he had thick gloves on. He hadn't seen anyone all day; the snow was so deep it almost reached Ed's knees. A strong blast of cold air blew snow into Ed's face and he tried to wipe it off with a snow soaked glove to no avail. Now the streets were completely empty. The sky was a worrisome grey color and the wind was picking up. The cold air hit Ed's face like a cold, wet towel. For the three days he had been there it had snowed hard each day, _If this keeps up I won't be able to keep searching. _He thought in agitation as he began to walk back to his hotel. The street lamps had begun to flash on as the day grew darker.

Low growls echoed around and piles of snow shifted. Different canid like chimeras crept toward Edward, and a scrawny, malnourished girl followed. Her posture was that of a dog's and her hair was long and matted. It fell against her back and brushed against her ankles as she crept closer. Her eyes were frightened and she looked hungry, her ribs stuck out and her shoulders and hips did too.

A low bark rumbled from the largest wolf's throat.

* * *

_Attack! _Alpha wolf commanded.

The girl ran forward with the rest of her pack. It was getting hard for her to run. She had to stop frequently and was often left behind by her pack. She swayed as she forced herself forward. The cold made her lungs burn and she finally tripped. The pack ran ahead of her.

* * *

A strong chimera leapt at Ed, but was met by the transmuted blade of Ed's automail hand. The blade dug into the chimera's side and it fell to the snow. Blood blossomed across the snow like flavoring syrup across a snow cone.

Another chimera attacked, but this one tried to bite the blade and it was stabbed in the back of the throat. It suffocated on its own blood.

Another chimera charged Ed from behind and bit his flesh arm.

With a yelp of pain Ed kicked the chimera off his arm. The chimera took a chunk of flesh with it.

Ed noticed the girl watching with dulled, exhausted brown eyes. She hadn't stood up after she had tripped and lay with her chin in the snow; her breathe fogged in front of her face as she watched her pack, her family, get killed.

A chimera lunged for Ed's throat but Ed stabbed it in the chest.

Soon all of the chimeras had attacked, and been killed.

Ed cautiously approached the girl.

A low growl echoed in her throat and when Ed was within arm's reach she lashed out with jagged, untrimmed, dirty fingernails.

Ed saw the rough scabs that covered the swollen palms of her hands.

Ed gently grabbed her hand and she panicked. Her sharp, decaying teeth dug into his wrist as she lunged forward and bit him. Blood flowed into the girls mouth and she spit it out onto the snow. She slashed the nails of her free hand toward Ed's neck. She grazed his face and left two long, bloody cuts across the bridge of his nose. Blood oozed from the cuts as the girl clawed blindly at the air. Her eyes were shut tight out of instinct and she was desperately clawing and bitting trying to hit a target. Blood dripped from a long cut in the girl's arm.

"I'm not trying to hurt you!" Ed quickly jumped back from the girl.

She looked up with angry, untrusting eyes. She staggered weakly through the snow. Suddenly she stopped and sank to the ground, panting for breath. Blood now dripped in a constant stream from her arm and she looked weak.

She's_ not even ten, and people want her dead, _Ed realized as he watched the girl's eyes slip into the back of her head as she passed out, whether it was from hunger, blood loss, or the cold, he didn't know. Before he realized what he was doing he had pulled his coat off and wrapped it around the girl's tiny, scrawny, malnourished frame. He carefully picked her up. She weighed almost nothing.

The girl shivered, even wrapped in the coat. When her hand brushed against Ed's arm he nearly yelped, she had a fever.

Suddenly so many thoughts and memories rushed over Ed, _We couldn't even save a little girl. Feeling mom's forehead when she had become ill, and realizing she might never recover. _

The girl stirred slightly and was immediately awake. She closed her eyes and slashed her nails through the air, hitting Ed's upper arm.

Blood dripped from the deep wound.

With a menacing snarl the girl struggled harder, but Ed held her arms to her sides. The girl quickly tired herself out and Ed hurried to his hotel. He ran to his room, unlocked the door, and closed the door tightly behind himself. He dropped the girl gently on the bed just as she woke and tried to bite him again.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he said quietly. The bites and scratches had already swelled from the bacteria on the girl's nails and teeth. The skin had also become warm around the cuts.

The girl couldn't understand him and she growled, backing away until she fell off of the other side of the bed.

Before the girl could attack him again Ed ran to the door, opened it, ran out, slammed it shut, and locked it. He went down the stairs and asked to use the phone. He dialed the number of the hotel Alphonse was staying at.

"_How may I help you?_" the hotel worker in charge of the phone answered.

"I need to speak with Alphonse Elric, is he there?" Ed asked wearily; his arm ached and so did the long scratches on his face.

"_Yes, just a moment, please,_" the worker said as he went to find Alphonse.

"_Hello?_" Al answered._  
_

"Hey, it's Ed," Ed answered, trying to hide the tone of exhaustion.

"_Are you having any luck, brother?_" Alphonse asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I found her, but Al, I don't know how we're going to get her back to Central," Ed sighed.

"_What do you mean, brother?_" Al asked.

"She's feral, she attacked me when I found her. She'd hurt herself if we tried to move her," Ed answered.

"_Do you have any ideas of how we could safety get her back?_" Al asked, he knew Ed could almost always think of something.

"Actually, no," Ed finally admitted he couldn't.

"_I'll catch the soonest train there, brother. Just be careful, okay?_" Alphonse said as he was about to hang up.

"Okay, you know which hotel I'm staying at. I don't think I'll be going anywhere," Ed confirmed as he hung up and went back to his room.

When he opened the door he saw that the carpet had been shredded, the legs of the bedside table had been chewed through and the blankets and pillows were torn up on the ground. The walls were scratched and one small pane of the window was shattered. The girl crouched snarling at the door.

* * *

A/N: What kind of mess has Ed gotten into this time? :) Thanks if you read this far, please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B.

* * *

Chapter 2

The girl snarled at the door as Ed walked in. She charged with a sudden movement and bit down on Ed's automail ankle. She let go with a yelp and scampered across the room. Blood dripped from her mouth and bits of decayed tooth fell to the floor. With another snarl Atlee flung herself forward, her claws digging into Ed's flesh arm.

Ed cursed as he tried to pry her hand away from his own arm. The dirt and filth on her claws left the cuts stinging unbearably. The pain even brought the prickling pain of tears to Ed's eyes as he finally freed himself from her strong grip.

She retreated to pace, glaring suspiciously at Ed while she did so, across the room. She looked like a caged animal, and the smudges of blood and dirt on her face and claws did nothing to help her appearance. Her lips occasionally pulled back into a vicious snarl; especially whenever Ed moved.

Ed, wisely, stood still as the feral child paced and snarled. He marveled at the way her spine had shifted to match the way she walked, at the hair on her arms and legs that was closer to fur. For the first time, in those two or three hours where he couldn't move, he truly got to observe the adaptations. The way her nails grew slightly inwards; more like claws than nails. The way her teeth had angled forward to create a more painful bite. Her wrists had warped so that she could easier carry her weight split between her hands a feet.

Ed also observed her injuries, how skinny she was, and the way she occasionally wobbled like she was unwell. She had many healed scars, among them were many scratches from animal claws. There was a scar running down the left side of her chest, curving over her protruding ribs, from her armpit down past the bottom of her rib cage. The skin there had an odd shininess to it, common of a scar, and it was discolored. The skin of the scar stretched, along with the rest of the tight-pulled skin, with her odd gait.

Ed had forgotten why he was being so still, and in a lapse of judgement, walked towards the chair in the corner of the room.

The girl growled and hurtled towards his leg, and Ed barely managed to move his automail leg before she bit the metal limb. Her foot caught on the carpet, allowing her to spin around and bite Ed's flesh leg with enough force to break the skin _through _the fabric. Blood stained the leg of Ed's pants a dark shade, even darker than the black they were, as his blood spilled.

The metallic scent of blood seemed to put her into a crazed, hungry, attacking stage. She lunged, aiming to crush Ed's throat with her strong jaws. She had always associated the smell of blood with food, even if she was never allowed to eat the humans the other chimera killed.

_Food. Metal. Danger. Food. Food, _she thought. Her thoughts were overwhelmed, too overwhelmed to register that Ed had aimed a punch for the side of her head. He didn't hit her too hard, just enough to knock her back so he could restrain her with alchemy.

The girl struggled and thrashed desperately against the binds of wood from the floor that held her, but soon her returning fever exhausted her again. Ed stood up and limped to the door. He unlocked it and walked down the stairs.

"Hey, where's the nearest clinic?" Ed asked one of the hotel workers loudly across the lobby.

"It's just down the street. You should't be able to miss it, turn left outside of the door," the man answered before returning to his work.

Ed took the directions and reached the small clinic. It looked to be a family run place, which Ed didn't see to be a particularly bad problem. He just had to get his injuries cleaned, a few probably needed stitches, and he wanted to ask if someone could come take a look at the girl. Her condition worried Ed.

The door of the clinic was a revolving door and he walked through. The lobby of the small place was empty, with only one person manning the check in.

"Sir, do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked.

"No, I'm just staying in this city for awhile, and I got hurt. Is there any way someone could see me without an appointment?" Ed asked.

"That shouldn't be a problem. We don't have anyone coming in today," the receptionist nodded, "Just a moment please."

Once the young man had left the counter to go talk to the doctor about a patient Ed went and sat in one of the chairs of the waiting room. He was exhausted, and he knew it would only get worse as the days went on. He was only waiting for about a minute or so before the receptionist came back and motioned for him to follow.

Ed followed behind him. He motioned for Ed to wait in one of the rooms and disappeared again.

A moment later the doctor, a stocky man in his later years, appeared at the door, "What seems to be the problem?"

"I've got some dog scratches and bites, I just want to make sure that they're nothing too bad," Ed answered, "And I have a friend who's really sick, but she can't leave our room. Do you think, sometime today, it would be possible for you to go see if you can help her?"

"If I may ask, why can't she come here? Is she that ill?" the doctor asked as he did a quick, standard health check before waiting for Ed to roll up his sleeve and reveal one of the many injuries she had left.

Ed didn't know if he should answer, but he decided it would be best, "She's feral, and it wouldn't be safe for people around me if I brought her out of our room. She's got a really high fever so I want to make sure she's okay."

"Are you sure these wounds came from a dog?" the doctor asked skeptically; already figuring out that the feral girl had probably attacked Ed, not a dog.

"What difference does it make?" Ed grew defensive. He was terrified that the girl would be killed if it was discovered she had attacked people.

"A lot of difference, young man. It means I would have to clean the wounds differently and prescribe different medicines to prevent infection. Now, did these come from a dog?" the doctor repeated. His amiable nature seemed to disappear easily to be replaced by a firm nature.

"It was my friend, but please understand she didn't mean any harm. She was scared," Ed answered.

"Don't worry, I don't feel like it's anything she should be punished for. You said she was feral, right?" the doctor assured as he carefully inspected Ed's wounds. He then began cleaning the wounds, and then he got out the tools for stitching the ones that needed it.

"I should be able to go check up on your friend any time today. When would be the most convenient for you?" the doctor asked after he had stitched the worst of Ed's wounds. He bandaged up the deep scratched and punctures.

"It'd probably be best to see her sooner than later, wouldn't it?" Ed asked.

"Probably, if you want I can go back with you to check on her," the doctor offered.

"Yes, please," Ed nodded. He had dealt with sleep deprivation before, but he had been awake for nearly forty-eight hours and had killed the entire pack of chimeras. He was just hoping to get a chance to sleep some after he was certain the girl was okay and he had thought of a safe way to restrain her.

* * *

The doctor sighed as the girl continued to snarl threateningly at him. This had been going on for almost an hour. Every time the doctor would get close enough to examine her she would try to bite him.

"She really is feral," the doctor observed, "I'm going to give her a sedative. It's risky without knowing what condition she's in, but I don't think I can do anything unless she's calmed down some."

Ed nodded.

The next few minutes were spent trying to get the girl to sit still enough to give her a small injection of sedatives, just enough to calm her down. And it didn't take long to take effect.

"I think she's just ill from the weather, she's also dehydrated," the doctor said after he had given her a thorough check up, "I suggest you give her something to eat, too. Make sure she sleeps."

"I will, thank you for going out of your way to help," Ed had already paid the bill at the hospital.

"Of course, do take care," the doctor left.

"I will," Ed waved. Once the doctor had left he flopped back onto the bed he was sitting on. The girl was still trapped by transmutated arms of wood from the floor.

_I'll just nap for awhile, _Ed thought with a yawn as he fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Alright, thanks for reading! :D Please review~


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, just Atlee.

* * *

Chapter 3

Ed awoke to find the girl crouching beside him on the bed, and by the looks of her teeth and claws she had scratched and chewed her way free of the restraints transmuted from the floor. Her lips were drawn back into a snarl, and had he awoken a moment later he was certain he would have been killed because he only just managed to roll out of the girl's way as she lunged for his neck.

Ed quickly realized why the girl was attacking when he heard her stomach growling; before she could attack him again he ran to the door and got out before she could reach it. He went down to the lobby restaurant of the hotel, ordered himself some food and ordered some very watery soup and sliced fruit to be boxed so he could take it up to the girl. When he had finished eating and gotten the boxed order he went back to his room and cautiously opened the door.

The girl was laying on the floor, and it looked like she couldn't even lift her head from either exhaustion or hunger. He walked slowly past her and set the cup of soup and box of fruit on the ruined bedside table. He took the lid off of the small cardboard cup of soup and set it in front of the girl.

Her nostrils twitched and she inched forward to cautiously lap at the soup. Deeming it was food and it was safe she submerged her mouth into the cup and happily gulped down the soup.

Ed cautiously placed the slices of fruit on the floor beside the small cup. He was afraid that she might attack him if she feared her food were being threatened.

The girl scarfed down the fruit quickly afterwards, as if afraid it would be taken from her. When she looked at Ed again the expression in her eyes was different than before. It wasn't a look of fear or animalistic terror but a look of gratitude. As if to prove her gratitude she inched forward with her stomach pressed to the ground before turning to expose her stomach in a submissive expression that showed Ed that he was the alpha. After a moment she rolled back over and simply sat, with her stomach pressed to the ground, at Ed's feet.

Slowly Ed sat down.

The girl slowly sat up, but her posture stayed similar to that of a dog.

"I guess I should give you a name," Ed pondered aloud.

"Name," the girl repeated. Her voice sounded like a yipping bark.

"Huh, you can talk," Ed blinked.

"You! You!" the girl repeated.

"Ed," Ed stated his own name, curious to see how she would respond to that.

"Ed," she barked.

He pointed towards himself, "Edward."

"Edward! Alpha Edward," the girl seemed so proud of herself.

Ed thought for a moment, and he remembered a name of a character in some long ago story. He didn't remember the story nor the meaning of the name, but it fit her, "Atlee."

"Atlee!" she barked.

Ed pointed at her, "Atlee."

"Outcast Atlee, outcast Atlee," she responded in her yipping tone.

Ed was glad that she wasn't trying to attack him, but now he saw that there was a lot of work to do to get her into healthier shape. Now, at least, he could work towards that. But first he wanted to take a shower himself. He hadn't washed his hair in nearly a week and it was getting greasy, also he wanted to wash the dried blood off of himself. He walked into the small bathroom that was connected to his room. He made sure to leave the door open, he wanted to get Atlee used to the shower and tub so letting her hear and see the running water might be helpful. As the water warmed up he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked absolutely awful, his hair was a mess, he was covered in his own blood and the blood of the chimeras he had killed, and he had dark circles under his eyes from his recent lack of decent sleep.

He had to admit, after he had gotten out of the shower and carefully dried his automail, that it was nice to wash the dried blood off of his skin. He opened his suitcase and pulled out a change of clothes. After he had gotten out of the shower Atlee had accidentally turned on the tap for the bath, and he left the drain unstopped and the water on because she had seemed to enjoy playing in it.

There was a knock on the door, "Mr. Elric, there is a call for you on hold in the lobby when you can get to it."

"Just a minute," Ed answered back. After he got dressed and turned off the tap, he didn't want Atlee making a mess, he locked the door behind himself and walked down to the lobby. The receptionist asked if he was Mr. Edward Elric, and when he answered yes he handed the phone to Ed.

"_Brother?_" Alphonse confirmed from the other line.

"Yeah, Al, what do you need?" Ed asked.

"_The trains are running a few days behind because of an accident on the tracks, brother. Do you think you'll be okay for a day or two more?_" Alphonse questioned.

"Yeah, I should be fine until you get back," Ed assured.

"_Are you sure? If I tried walking I could probably get there pretty fast,_" Alphonse asked.

"No, I don't want you to get lost," Ed denied, "I've got things under control here. Atlee, the girl, is doing a lot better."

"_If you're sure. Be careful, brother. I'll see you soon,_" Alphonse bid him farewell.

"Don't worry Al, I will. See you, bye," Ed hung up and then returned to his room. When he walked through the door Atlee was sitting expectantly just inside the room staring up at the door.

"Edward! Alpha Edward!" she greeted happily and stepped back so he could walk into the room.

Ed smiled at her.

Now, he figured, would be as good a time as any to try to get her into the bath. So he walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, letting it warm up just enough that it wasn't chilly but being extremely careful not to let it get too hot.

"Atlee," Ed called.

She came rushing in and skidded to a halt beside the faucet to splash in the luke warm water.

"Atlee," Ed tapped the floor of the bathtub with his hand.

Atlee seemed to understand and she climbed over the edge to sit in the water. She tipped her had from side to side as she splashed in the warm water.

"Atlee, stay," Ed commanded while using his flesh hand to lightly hold her shoulder so she couldn't run off as he used his metal hand to pick up the bar of soap and began gently scrubbing at Atlee's arm that was closest to him.

Atlee flinched away but sat still, repeating the word stay in her yipping, barky voice.

Ed was careful of her various injures, but he made sure to wash the dried blood and dirt away from them. He didn't want her injuries getting infected. The side of Ed's automail hand brushed against Atlee's side, and she quickly pulled away to scamper to the other side of the half full tub. She growled defensively.

Ed moved his hands back, lowering his automail arm in a non-threatening manner.

After a moment Atlee seemed to have calmed down as she stopped pressing herself against the far side of the narrow tub.

Ed cautiously switched the bar of soap from his metal hand to his flesh hand and carefully began scrubbing at her side again. He was afraid of how she would react to Alphonse.

Soon Atlee was clean of mud and blood. Ed knew that her hair was just going to pose a problem, so he transmuted her hair so that a good portion of it fell off. This left only enough hair to cover the back of her neck.

After that Ed picked up a towel he had laid on the floor nearby, "Stay." He carefully held her in place with his flesh hand on her shoulder. He made sure the towel completely covered his right hand as he began drying her shoulders and back off. Soon he scooted back on the floor to tap the ground outside of the tub with one hand.

Atlee cautiously climbed over the side of the tub, and Ed began carefully drying her arms, legs, and stomach.

She flinched away from the coarse fabric occasionally. She had never really felt fabric before, and it was odd to her. Soon Ed had finished drying her off. He draped the towel over her back, this was his way of trying to get her used to the fabric. Ed knew that it was going to be a long few days, but he was glad he had made some progress.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review~


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 4

Atlee growled as she shredded the towel that Ed had accidentally left on the floor of the bathroom as a rug. She shook her head from side to side, a scrap of the towel held in her mouth.

"Atlee, no," Ed spoke in a stern voice. He wasn't going to risk getting close enough to take the towel.

Atlee ceased her demolition of the towel and blinked up at Ed. Her green eyes were unsettling sometimes with their mildly vacant look. When Ed said nothing else Atlee continued to attack the scrap of white fabric.

Ed sighed and decided to ignore her for the time being. He could always use alchemy to fix the towel as long as Atlee didn't eat any of the fabric.

_Luckily, Al'll be here tonight and we can leave tomorrow,_ though this thought brought up another question. How were they going to get Atlee back to Central without her hurting herself or someone else? Ed would discuss that with Al later, he decided, as he left the room to go get breakfast. He made sure to close the door behind himself and lock it so Atlee couldn't open it by accident.

He ordered his own food and something that wouldn't be too hard for Atlee to chew to be boxed. After he ate his breakfast he returned to his room with the box of food for Atlee. He opened the box and set it on the floor. This was usually how he fed Atlee.

She ran to the box, and scarfed down the soft, almost-undercooked waffle. With most of her teeth rotted out Atlee could hardly eat most things, leaving her to liquid or soft, bread type foods only. Or foods cut small enough she didn't need to chew, but Ed was afraid she would choke herself if she was given food in small bites. After she had finished the waffles Atlee began gnawing on the styrofoam box itself.

"Atlee, stop," Ed didn't want her to get sick from eating the box. He cautiously grabbed the box; he knew he was risking getting bit.

And he did. Atlee growled and sank her teeth into his flesh arm. Ed was glad that he hadn't picked up the box with his automail arm because it would hurt Atlee's teeth and gums further. He winced as he used his automail hand to carefully pry her mouth off of his arm, and quickly retrieved the box.

Blood dripped down Ed's hand and stained his gloves. He rolled up his sleeve to closer inspect the injury. He would have to go back to the doctor and get it cleaned.

Atlee whined quietly. She inched closer to Ed and nuzzled his injured arm.

_Hurt, pain, blood,_ Atlee thought as she pawed at Ed's arm with one of her hands. She blinked at the crimson fluid flowing down Ed's arm.

* * *

Alphonse looked at the paper with the hotel's address again. He was certain this was the right hotel, and his suspicion was proven right when he walked into the lobby. Edward was sitting at one of the tables in the small, restaurant type setting.

"Yo, Al!" Ed called to get his brother's attention.

"Brother! Has everything been alright?" Al asked as he walked over to meet his brother.

"Don't worry, Al, everything's been going fine," Ed assured. He wasn't looking forward to having to explain the multitude of stitches and bandages he was currently stuck with, "Come on, I need your help figuring out how to get Atlee back to Central without too much trouble."

Al followed behind his brother.

"Now, Al, I need to warn you that she might not respond too well to you. She terrified of metal. Also, she refuses to wear clothes, so be prepared for that too," Ed warned.

"Alright," Al nodded. This caused his armor to clink slightly.

Ed took a deep, preparing breath before he opened the door and let himself and Al into the room. He shut the door behind them very quickly and was surprised when he wasn't greeted with a gleeful bark or a threatening snarl.

He looked around the room, but he didn't see Atlee.

"Atlee?" he called. As he walked past the bed he heard a slight growl from underneath it. He crouched and cautiously picked up the edge of the blanket that hid the small gap between the floor and the bed frame.

Atlee's eyes were fearful. Her posture showed that she was ready to flee. Her eyes were locked onto Alphonse's armor, and Ed realized that she had probably heard the clinking of the armor outside of the door.

"Hey Al, can you go over there?" Ed asked, motioning to the side of the room that Atlee currently couldn't see.

Al obeyed without a response, and every time his armor clicked or clinked Atlee flinched.

Her muscles seemed to be coiled so tight that she could make it to the door in a matter of half a second. If she decided to flee, that is.

Ed did his best to make his tone seem amiable and calm, "Atlee, it's okay."

Atlee whimpered and sank further under the bed. Her thoughts raced, _Metal, danger, metal, danger, death, danger, metal, pain, metal, danger._

"Come on, Atlee. You're okay," Ed assured. He knew Atlee couldn't understand most of the words; he hoped she would understand she was safe from his tone of voice.

A growl rumbled in Atlee's chest as she lunged forward. Her thoughts were muddled by fear, and her instincts were taking over. Her first thought was to escape, but with Ed sitting where he was she couldn't. So she turned to fight. She aimed to slash and bite at Ed's neck but he held up his automail arm.

"Brother!" Al's voice was worried and he took a step forward before remembering that his armor might just scare Atlee even more and make her fight harder.

"Atlee, you're just fine," Ed assured, though his tone was a little tight. One of her sharp nails had managed to catch his collarbone and leave a deep, bleeding cut along the ridging bone. The cut stung and Ed knew he was probably going to need to get that one cleaned and possibly stitched as well.

Atlee was breathing hard as she shot out from under the bed past Ed and immediately went for the door. She stopped, though. She had yet to figure out how to get past the door. In Atlee's eyes, she had just cornered herself. Her eyes darted frantically and the thought of danger raced repeatedly through her head.

Ed attempted to get a bit closer to Atlee, but she ran to the other side of the room. She stared at Alphonse and froze.

It seemed they stood still for hours, but in truth it was only for fifteen minutes. When someone moved, it was Atlee. She crept forward and sniffed at the shoe of Alphonse's armor. With a cautious hand she scraped claws across the metal. When it didn't move to hurt her she sat up just a bit to stare directly at Alphonse's "eyes".

It was eerie, the way she stared directly at his eyes. Her own eyes had become curious as she cautiously rose to sit on two knees. She had often seen Ed walk around on two feet. Her hand went up to grab the side of the chest plate of Al's armor. Atlee, as many animals, learned through observation. When Ed had been out, sometimes she would curiously stare out of the window. Now, to better look at the armor, she pulled herself to her feet.

She couldn't stand straight and her legs shook, but when she released Al's armor she could still support herself.

"D***," Ed breathed in surprise as Atlee pulled herself up. He was even more startled when she reached up to Alphonse's helmet and barely missed hooking one of her fingers through the empty eye of the armor.

Al stood perfectly still as Atlee seemed to explore his armor.

"Hey Alphonse, just try saying something," Ed said.

"Like what, brother?" Alphonse asked.

Atlee's eyes lit up, and she seemed even more interested with Al's helmet.

"Just, something. I think she's trying to figure out where your voice is coming from," Ed said.

"Really?" Alphonse asked.

Atlee suddenly barked happily, "Like Ed like Ed!"

"Brother, what's she talking about?" Alphonse questioned.

"I think she might be referring to my automail and your armor," Ed mused, "Atlee, Alphonse."

"Alphonse! Alphonse!" Atlee replied back.

"Brother Al," Ed wanted to see how many words he could get her to repeat.

"Al!" she happily repeated the nickname.

It was about an hour before Atlee got tired of repeating words and standing and looking at Alphonse's armor. After that time she sleepily laid down between the bed and the wall and slept.

"Hey Al, I've gotta go to the doctor real quick, wanna come with me?" Ed asked. The cut on his collarbone throbbed painfully.

"Why do you need to go to the doctor, brother? Is something wrong?" Al sounded very worried.

"It's fine, but I think this scratch may need stitches. I also need to talk to him about something," Ed assured. It hadn't crossed his mind that Alphonse hadn't met the doctor from the small clinic.

"You know a doctor around here?" Alphonse questioned.

"Yes, I do. He owns a small clinic down the street. I had to get him to check up on Atlee when I first found her because she had a really high fever. He also cleaned up all of the injuries I had from fighting the chimera that she was with and trying to get her back to the hotel," Ed explained.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, please review~


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 5

"It could be risky, but if you're planning to transport her by train all the way to Central City that might be your only option," the doctor said, "I'll have to see how much she weighs so I don't overdose her on sedatives."

"How risky could it be?" Alphonse asked.

"With how malnourished she is, it could kill her. There's also the chance it could wear off too soon, and she would wake up too soon and hurt herself or someone else. Like I said, though, seems like that's our only real option," the doctor sighed. He finished the last suture needed to close up the deep scratch over Ed's collar bone.

"If we can't find a safe way to transport her to Central City we've got no choice but to kill her, so I think it's worth risking it," Ed offered. He couldn't imagine having to kill the feral girl. Even though she had attacked him he didn't think he'd be able to bring himself to do it.

"If you can bring her over here then it should be no problem to weigh her and decide what medication would be the best to use. Do you think you can?" the doctor questioned.

"It shouldn't be too much trouble, as long as I can keep her calm," Ed lied. He didn't think he'd be able to get her into the hallway of the hotel without problems.

The doctor nodded thoughtfully, "Well, I'm no vet, but try covering her eyes. I read somewhere that that keeps animals calm enough to transport."

Ed eyes lit up at the advice, he remembered learning something similar from one of the farmers in Resembool when he and Al were kids, "Yeah, that does work! Thanks for that advice."

Within five minutes Ed and Al were back at the hotel and back up to Ed's room. Before long Ed had transmuted the bathroom doorknob into buttons and his coat into a more dress shaped article of clothing. After transmuting the buttons on he went through the long process of figuring out a way to get the dress on Atlee without her freaking out. He couldn't take her out into the weather with no protection, nor could he escape the punishments of the law for doing so either.

"We could just try laying it on her at first," Al offered.

"That's actually a really good idea, Al," Ed decided, "Atlee, come."

The feral girl trotted over in her odd posture.

Ed didn't want to frighten Atlee, so he held the fabric in front of her. She sniffed it, and licked the soft fabric as if testing what it was. She wrinkled her nose as bits of fuzzy string clung to her tongue from the fabric.

After Atlee had had a few moments to inspect the fabric Ed lightly laid the unbuttoned coat across her back.

Atlee almost immediately began turning about in circles; she was trying to shake the fabric off. She wasn't able to budge the fabric, and after a few more minutes of struggling she lay down on the ground. She seemed to have accepted her fate.

Ed approached her a few moments later and gently worked a hand under her chin so he could button the first button of the dress.

Atlee obediently lifted her chin from the floor. She stared intently, curiously, at Ed. Ed then carefully pulled Atlee to sit up by her shoulders so he could button the rest of the buttons. This trapped her arms to her sides, and in a moment of sheer terror Atlee began to struggle. She thrashed helplessly to free her arms and bit onto Ed's automail hand. More of her rotten teeth cracked and crumbled. Blood seeped from her gums and her remaining teeth rattled as she shook her head from side to side while still holding Ed's automail hand tightly in her mouth.

Blood stained Ed's glove and dripped down in between the different parts of his hand. He didn't move an inch; afraid that if he moved he would cause her teeth damage.

After a moment Atlee let go. Her eyes shone with guilt and pain as she attempted to back away in an apologetic way.

"It's okay," Ed's tone was reassuring and soothing as he transmuted a strip of cloth from the bedsheets behind him. He quickly tied it over Atlee's eyes, and as expected she calmed quickly.

"Now the question is, how do we get her back to the clinic without her bolting?" Ed asked as he watched Atlee sniffing the air and helplessly turning her head from side to side as if she were lost.

"We can put her in my armor," Al offered, "Since her arms are restrained she probably couldn't damage the blood seal."

Ed nodded in agreement. It wasn't long before Atlee was safely stowed away inside Alphonse's armor and the group were off to the clinic.

"Hm, where's Atlee?" the doctor questioned whenever Edward and Alphonse got back.

"She's in here," Alphonse answered as he began to open the armor so that Ed could help him carefully move Atlee to the floor.

"That armor's empty, how peculiar," the doctor's face went pale at this discovery.

"Don't worry, that's just the way Alphonse is. It comes in handy sometimes, right Al?" Ed laughed, trying to shake the heavy atmosphered as he lightly rapped his knuckles on Al's chest plate.

"Right, brother," Al agreed, his voice wavering with a nervous chuckle.

The doctor seemed to decide ignoring this oddity was the best course of action as he carefully picked Atlee up and moved her to the scale. She had fallen asleep in the quiet environment of Alphonse's armor.

Her weight was pathetic, the scale showed only fifty five pounds. Ed could believe it, after picking her up multiple times and seeing her skeletal body.

"I can only think of one medication that wouldn't be too risky to consider, but it might not be strong enough to keep her calm or unconscious for a whole train ride," the doctor hummed thoughtfully as he then laid Atlee down flat on her back to measure her height.

"Poor girl," the doctor frowned. He shook his head as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet he had to make sure he had the particular type of tranquilizer in mind. He decided he would probably need something a bit more aimed towards knocking someone out than calming them down.

"When will you be going back to Central City?" the doctor questioned as he found the bottle.

"We'll be trying to leave the day after tomorrow, if possible. Would that be a problem?" Alphonse questioned.

"No, that should be fine. Since Atlee is asleep I'm going to go ahead and trim her nails so she can't scratch you up as badly, Ed," the doctor said as he went to another cabinet and retrieved a nail file and a pair of nail trimmers. After only five minutes he had trimmed Atlee's claw like nails. She hadn't awoken; she was exhausted and hadn't slept deeply in many days aside from her first day after Ed found her.

"Do you want me to see about cleaning up her teeth? I'm no dentist but I think it would be a good idea to take care of where her teeth had broken and stuck her gums," the doctor offered.

"Yeah, we'd appreciate that. And, if it'd be alright with you, I'm gonna run down to the train station and get some tickets real quick. Al, think you can stay here?" Ed said.

"That should work perfectly, then you can take her home and get some rest. You look exhausted, Ed," the doctor pointed out.

"It's nothing, I've gone longer without sleep," Ed waved away the concern. With that he left to go get train tickets.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading. Next chapter we should get to see Mustang and his group :D


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 6

"Hold her arm still, Ed," the doctor commanded. It was the day Ed and Al were supposed to leave, and it was time to give Atlee the tranquilizer.

Atlee desperately tried to pull her arm free just before the needle sank into her arm. It only took a few minutes for the tranquilizers to take effect. Atlee was out cold within five minutes.

"Thank you so much for all of your help. The bank should transfer the money I owe to your account this afternoon, if it doesn't call that number I left. I really appreciate everything you did," Ed thanked the doctor. His voice was sincere.

"Of course, it was a pleasure to help. I wish you three the best of luck. If Atlee is ever socialized further you'll have to call me so I can meet here," the doctor accepted the thanks with a smile.

The walk to the train station didn't take long; Ed and Al boarded the train just on time. Their tickets were checked and then they made their way to the last car. They had paid for three tickets, neither brother felt like feeling guilty about not paying for the three passengers. They just hadn't shown the third ticket to the ticket-taker.

"I sure hope she sleeps through the whole ride," Ed sighed as he glanced at Al's armor.

"Me too," Al agreed, "It would be really hard to keep her calm otherwise."

"So what do you think Colonel Bastard will say about this? He'll probably make some sort of joke about me bringing in a stray even though I don't let you pick up strays," Ed snorted in annoyance at the thought.

"Brother, that's rude!" Alphonse scolded, "You should try to show him more respect, he's been very kind to both of us!"

Ed rolled his eyes at his brother's scolding, "Of course he has. Short jokes are a great way to show you care about someone."

Alphonse huffed in annoyance and simply sat back in his seat.

"What do you think is going to happen to Atlee?" Edward asked seriously.

"I don't know, but she doesn't seem like a chimera. They'll probably find her a good place to be cared for," Alphonse answered seriously as well.

"I hope you're right," Ed sighed. He didn't want to think about what would happen if it was though that Atlee was a chimera. He allowed himself to stew in his own thoughts for the rest of the train ride.

* * *

"This way, boys," Hawkeye commanded as she led the Elric brothers to Mustang's office. She knew Atlee was fast asleep in Al's armor, Ed said that the girl had fallen asleep shortly after she had awoken near the end of the train ride.

Ed followed wordlessly. Ever since he had begun to think of what could happen to Atlee his thoughts had been heavy and grim. He couldn't help the serious expressions on his face as he entered his superior's office.

"Ah, Fullmetal, how did it go?" Mustang questioned.

"We found her," Ed answered. He didn't have to energy to force sarcasm or sass into his voice as he helped Al remove his chest plate and carefully move Atlee's sleeping form to the couch. She was still slightly drugged so her sleep was deep. To Ed she looked much closer to human than she had when he had first found her, but the responses of everyone in the office were ones of shock and surprise at the appearance of the young girl. While her skin was no longer caked with dirt and her hands and feet weren't as swollen from the elements, most of the deeper scratches on her face had healed, but her cheeks were still extremely sunken, as were her eyes. Her hair wasn't matted and her nails were trimmed.

"So, that's the chimeras girl that's been causing so much panic," Mustang sounded almost amused by all of the rumors he had heard about the girl, "What about the chimera that had been with her?"

"I killed them, they attacked me," Ed answered.

"Fullmetal, answer this question without any biased thoughts. Do you think she's a chimera?" Roy's voice was serious and his eyes said not to answer with sarcasm.

"No, I think she's feral," Ed answered.

"We'll have some blood work done to figure it out, then. Until then she's to be kept in this branch's research facility," Mustang announced.

Ed nodded in understanding, "You're dismissed, Fullmetal. Fill this paper work out and return it by tomorrow. The blood work should be done by then."

Ed saluted and left with Al following close behind.

* * *

"Brother, we just got a call from Mustang. Ed, Atlee's blood work came back clean, she's not a chimera," Alphonse tried to shake his brother awake only to earn a tired groan as Ed rolled away. Unfortunately for Ed he had been sleeping too close to the edge of the bed. He rolled off, taking the blankets with him.

Ed blinked his eyes open sleepily and rubbed at one eye with his flesh hand to clear the sleep induced cloudiness, "Wha?"

"I just said that Atlee's not a chimera, she's just a feral human! She's safe, they're not going to kill her!" Alphonse repeated. He sounded more than excited at this news.

"Really?" Ed asked. He hadn't expected the blood work to get in that quickly, but as he noticed how bright the room was he knew he had overslept. As the news set in he couldn't help but tilt his head back and laugh. He had been so afraid that Atlee was going to be killed for something she couldn't help that he felt as if a huge weight had been taken out of his chest. As if bricks had been stacked in his lungs but they were moved out in that moment.

"Do we know what they're going to do with her?" Ed asked.

"No, but so far Atlee's been terrified of everyone but you and Hawkeye. She even tried to attack Mustang when he got too close to her. They're thinking about leaving her with you," Alphonse answered. He couldn't help the laugh in his voice as he remembered how annoyed Mustang had sounded about the girl nearly biting his arm.

"Wouldn't it be a better idea to leave her with Hawkeye?" Ed questioned.

Alphonse shook his head, "Atlee didn't seem fond of Black Hayate. It might not be safe for them to be in the same house."

"Then I'm glad I slept so much last night. I probably won't get much good sleep for awhile," Ed said as he finally sat up from where he had landed on the floor.

* * *

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! :D


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 7

Ed's previous statement about not getting much sleep had been far too true for his liking. Taking care of Atlee was a twenty-four seven job, and Alphonse- while Atlee had originally been fairly calm in his presence- could do little to help. Shortly after the Elrics had been assigned to take care of her Atlee had begun to show an intense fear of Alphonse. It went beyond even her panic at being touched by Ed's automail, and sometimes Alphonse simply being in the room caused Atlee to turn unpredictable and vicious.

"Brother, I'll call Hawkeye to come help take care of Atlee for awhile, you need sleep. This can't be good for you," Alphonse insisted. Ed's stubbornness didn't help the situation in the slightest. He refused to accept the help of Hawkeye, despite multiple offers. He always claimed he didn't want to trouble her, but Alphonse sensed that it was Ed's pride that was getting in the way. He wanted to be the one to socialize Atlee with as little help as possible.

"It's fine, Al. We shouldn't be bothering her with this," Ed assured with a nearly indifferent wave of his hand, "If I get less than an hour of sleep I'll have her come help tomorrow, but I'm fine for now."

"Brother, you really shouldn't do this to yourself!" Alphonse scolded.

"Don't worry Alphonse, I'll be fine. Besides, Atlee's getting better," Edward shrugged.

It was true, the feral girl had been getting back up to the progress she had made before their trip. Soon after said trip she had reverted back to the way she had originally been. Ed had had to go to the hospital because of some of the injuries she had left on him, which had left the poor girl in Alphonse's care until Ed returned. From their the entire situation had taken a downhill slide and had only recently began a slow, lengthy, uphill crawl. Atlee was now saying Ed's name again, and sometimes she would allow him to touch her, clean her hair, and bathe her but other times she would attack him. Her progress was much, much slower than it had been before.

"Alright, but I'm holding you to what you said. If you don't get more than an hour of sleep, I _am _calling the Lieutenant," Alphonse finally caved.

"Thanks, bro. I don't want Atlee losing what little progress she's made because she's forced into an unfamiliar situation. I just wish I knew what she was thinking so I could make this easier," Ed sighed. It was a tired sigh, that seemed far more fitting than a new parent than for a fifteen year old State Alchemist.

_Danger, food, hungry, food, food, smell food, _Atlee thought aimlessly as she gazed out at the heel of Edward's shoe from her hiding place under his bed. She pawed at his shoe and made a small noise. She sounded like a whining puppy. A whining puppy that had just discovered its food dish was empty. Her stomach grumbled, as if to show her feelings.

"Hey Al, would you mind going to get some food for her? Maybe some oatmeal with some cut meat in it?" Ed asked. Because Atlee lacked teeth she could only eat soft foods.

"Of course. Just be careful. We don't want to have to take you to the hospital again," Alphonse tried to keep his voice humorous.

"I'll try. Don't think any of those doctors would be too happy to see me again," Ed agreed with a chuckle.

Alphonse left, and once the door had clicked shut behind him Atlee crawled from her hiding place to blink up at Ed with those haunting eyes. They still gave him chills sometimes. They looked as if they were so innocence, but also so scared. In a way they also looked as if they had seen far more violence and struggle than any pair of eyes should see in a lifetime.

"Hey Atlee, how are you?" Ed asked with a closed lip smile. He had learned to never smile in a way that showed teeth because Atlee generally viewed it as a challenge and attacked him.

"Ed! Ed!" Atlee barked happily.

"Yeah, that's me," Ed chuckled nervously. He always had to tiptoe around her, because sometimes she would attack him for no reason. His worry, at the moment, seemed more than a little over kill, but she could change in a second and go into attack mode.

"Atlee! I Atlee!" she squealed happily. She was always so pleased with herself when she spoke.

"Yeah, you are," Ed was in awe. Atlee had never structured two words together in a sensible pattern.

For a moment, Ed though. What if he could get her to repeat him and for more sentences? So he tried it. He pointed to himself and said, "You are Ed." He spoke the words clearly and separately.

"You er Ed," her voice was childish and slurred. Her pronunciations were off because of her missing teeth. She sat back so she was sitting with her knees rested against her chest; this freed up one hand to mimic Ed and point at him.

The corners of Ed's mouth rose in a faint smile. He couldn't believe that just under two weeks ago this girl had been starving, following dog-like chimera that were eating humans. It was never confirmed whether or not she had cannibalized, but there was strong suspicion.

Alphonse returned with a bowl of oatmeal, "Did she behave?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Al," Ed assured. He took the bowl, he wanted to test something. He pointed at the bowl and said, "Food."

"Foowd," Atlee repeated while pointing at the bowl.

Ed set the bowl within Atlee's reach. She still ate from the floor like a dog, but it was the best that anyone could hope for for awhile.

Atlee scarfed down the food before she returned to her hiding place under the bed.

"We're going to have to do something about that, brother. She could easily do a lot of damage if she attacked you from down there," Alphonse said.

"Maybe tomorrow, Al. For now I'm gonna get some sleep," Ed yawned.

* * *

A/N: Yay crappy chapters. Sorry, I didn't get to proof reading this. Thanks for reading.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

* * *

Chapter 8

"_Did his fever get any higher?_" Riza questioned Alphonse over the phone. The night before Ed had developed a fever, and shortly after had began to show signs of illness.

"Yes, and he can't even sit up anymore. Could you please come help look after Atlee?" Alphonse responded.

"_It sounds bad. I'll be right over to keep an eye on her,_" Riza responded, "_You should probably find a doctor to take Ed to."_

"Thank you," Alphonse sounded extremely relieves that she had agreed to help, "And I'll try. I think that this is more than just him not getting enough sleep."

Shortly after that the call ended.

Atlee had wandered off somewhere in the room, and Alphonse hoped she wasn't hiding under the bed again.

"Food," Atlee said. She had been sitting behind the chair on the other side of the room, "Food! Food!"

"In a few minutes," Alphonse knew atlee didn't understand him. He was just saying it because it felt normal to respond. He couldn't leave Ed alone with the unpredictable feral child, so he couldn't get Atlee any food. When Lieutenant Hawkeye arrived, Alphonse was able to go down and get some food for Atlee.

"I'll keep an eye on Atlee, Alphonse. You go call around and see if you can find a doctor to take Edward to," Riza said as she watched the feral child scarf down the food she was given.

"Thank you so much. I'm sorry we had to trouble you with this," Alphonse apologized as he left to the lobby to use the hotel's phone.

"It's no problem at all. Though I do hope Colonel Mustang isn't ignoring his work right now," Riza replied.

Atlee looked up at Riza. She trotted over to the older woman and curiously sniffed at Riza's feet.

Lieutenant Hawkeye stood stone still as Atlee curiously looked up at her.

"I think she wants to know what to call you," Ed coughed, "Try pointing at yourself and saying whatever you want her to call you."

Riza blinked at the instructions, but did as Ed had said. Point to herself, she said, "Riza."

"Riza! Riza!" Atlee yipped, "Riza!"

"I didn't realize she could register names or words," Riza said.

"She can only learn single words at a time, but she's making progress," Ed began coughing even harder from talking. After that he decided that staying quiet was his wisest decision.

"I'll keep that in mind," Riza nodded.

Atlee, for some reason or another, had taken an immediate liking to Hawkeye. Even after seeing the flash of metal when the lights in Mustang's office reflected off of the guns at Riza's belt Atlee didn't react badly.

Not long after Atlee had repeated Riza's name Alphonse had returned to the room. He had explained he found a doctor, and then left carrying Ed.

Not really sure what to do aside from keep Atlee out of trouble, Riza awkwardly sat down in one of the chairs in the room.

Atlee walked over and sat beside the chair. She blinked up at Riza with those big, green eyes. She smiled brightly, and happily squealed, "Riza friend!"

Atlee had never used to word friend before, but she had somehow managed to fit it with her thoughts, as that was the type of feeling she was trying to display.

The significance of this seemed to escape Riza, as she didn't know Atlee's limited vocabulary. Riza really didn't know how to respond to this, though, so she only gave a close-mouthed smile to the girl. She had been warned previously not to show her teeth around the girl, it could cause Atlee to become aggressive.

Atlee responded back with a similar smile to Riza's. The rest of her time watching Atlee seemed to be similar to this.

It was about two hours before Edward and Alphonse returned, but Ed was actually up and walking when they came back.

"Thank you so much for watching her," Alphonse thanked again.

It turned out that Ed had just needed sleep and a bit of medicine to get him back to a reasonably healthy state, but he would need more sleep.

"I think we can watch her for now, but later if we need help would it be alright to call you?" Alphonse asked uncertainly.

"Of course, I would be happy to help you whenever you need," she responded kindly.

"Edward back! Edward back!" Atlee barked.

This caused the brothers to look at each other in contemplating confusion, "Al, did you teach her that?"

"No, brother, did you?" Alphonse responded.

"No, maybe Lieutenant Hawkeye did," Ed said.

"I'm sure you're right. Atlee wouldn't have figured it out on her own, right?" Alphonse agreed.

"Or she may be smarter than we think. Next time we see her we'll have to ask Hawkeye if she taught Atlee," Edward agreed, "I think I'm gonna go to bed, Al. Will you be alright to keep an eye on Atlee?"

"Yes, don't worry," Alphonse assured.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the short, crappy chapter. Thanks a bunch for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

A/N: Okay, so here(here meaning within the next few chapters) this is gonna start going into events of the anime a bit, as so far most of this has happened before most of the main events involving Ed being a State Alchemist mentioned in the series. Thing is, this will start before Hughes died.

* * *

Chapter 9

"Hey Al! Come here!" a tone of excitement filled Ed's voice as he called his younger brother from the other room.

"What is it?" Al responded as he walked into the room. His question was answered when he saw Atlee tottering unsteadily around the room on shaky legs. Her chest heaved, as if walking on only two feet took a lot of effort and put a lot of strain on her muscles.

"I set her food on the dresser for a second so I could go do something and when I'd come back she was walking. Can you believe this? I'd never have thought she could learn so fast!" Ed continued to sound excited as he spoke; his tone seemed to affect Atlee, as she seemed to try harder to stay standing.

"Wow! She really is making fast progress," Alphonse was just as amazed.

As if something clicked in her thoughts Atlee stared over at Alphonse and blinked. It was very unnerving when she did this, because she would sometimes look at him like she did a human. Even though she normally simply treated him as something to fear she would have moments where she would simply stare at him like she did at Ed or any other human she came across.

Something about Alphonse whenever he spoke also seemed to trigger some form of thought in the girl's head aside from instincts for survival and food, "Truth... did this you?"

Both of the Elrics froze at her words. She had never put together such a coherent chain of words. She had never said something so close to a sentence. Only after a few moments did her words click for Edward, and he gaped openly at her. He didn't know why she had been in the same lab as the chimera when she was a baby, but he wondered if that had something to do with the question she had just asked.

Pointing at a space beside Alphonse Atlee said, "Like Ed." Her words didn't hold the happy, yipping tone they normally did and her eyes were focused on that spot as if she were looking at someone.

"Brother, do you know what she's talking about?" Alphonse asked uncertainly.

"No, Al, but I think it might have something to do with your soul," Ed responded. He didn't take his eyes off of Atlee.

"Really?!" Alphonse exclaimed.

The sudden noise of Alphonse's voice seemed to startle Atlee, as she jumped back a bit. Her legs were hardly used to holding her up on their own, so her sudden movement caused her to lose her balance and fall back. With a rather indignant, startled yelp she landed on her bottom.

Atlee simply sat there with a perplexed expression on her face, as if she were wondering something along the lines of "what happened?"

"Oops," Alphonse sounded ashamed of himself for scaring the feral girl so badly.

"Food!" Atlee yipped as she looked at the bowl of soft food on top of the high dresser.

Ed immediately remembered that Atlee had never gotten the bowl of food, so he set it on the ground for her.

"That was weird," Edward shook his head in bewilderment at what had just happened. He still couldn't figure out why Atlee had asked that question, or how she had even known what it meant. _Maybe_, he thought, _she didn't know what it meant_. He would have to be patient, though. Maybe once she had learned more words he would be able to learn more about what exactly she saw about Alphonse's armor.

"Brother, do you think we should try to teach Atlee to walk normally more often?" Alphonse questioned.

"That'd probably be a good idea," Ed agreed, "But how would we go about doing that?"

"We could start putting her food up on higher surfaces," Alphonse offered, "Maybe that would help."

"That's actually a pretty good idea, Al," Edward praised, "We'll have to start doing that. Maybe after awhile we can see about getting her used to the idea of chairs too."

Atlee seemed to know she was being talked about. She had shuffled over to where the two brothers were standing. She sat down beside Edward's leg and glanced up at him curiously. Dismissing the conversation between the brothers as unimportant Atlee turned and walked across the room. It was still odd, the way her back bent so she could walk on her hands and feet the way she did.

"Have you noticed her vocabulary growing?" Alphonse asked.

"Yeah, she's really learning to talk fast," Ed smiled. Every accomplishment that Atlee made seemed to make him proud. He almost understood why Hughes was always so proud about Elacia.

"Do you think she used to know how to talk when she was younger?"

"Probably not, the reports say that she was in that lab from the time she was nearly a newborn. I don't think she ever learned to speak," Ed shook his head. This thought made Atlee's progress even more impressive.

There was a knock on the door, and the receptionist of the hotel said, "Mr. Elric, there's a call on hold for you in the lobby."

"Think you can take care of Atlee for a few minutes?" Ed asked Alphonse.

"Probably, she's been a bit better around me recently," Alphonse assured.

It was only a few minutes before Ed came back, and he looked particularly annoyed by the phone call, whoever it had been with.

"Colonel Bastard wants to see how we're doing with Atlee, so far," Ed growled bitterly. Unknown to both of the boys Hughes was also going to be coming.

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A/N: I'm so proud of this chapter. I am finally back into this story! Thanks so much for pulling through the bad chapters with me.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

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Chapter 10

"Hey, Ed!" Hughes greeted Edward in the lobby. He and Colonel Mustang had just arrived at the hotel where Edward and Alphonse were staying. Edward had come down to the lobby to greet Mustang and warn him about some of Atlee's aggressive behaviors. He hadn't expected to meet Hughes.

"What's he doing here?" Ed questioned Mustang.

"He seemed rather excited to meet Atlee and see how you're doing," Mustang answered. His expression was, as usual, fairly smug.

"I heard you were hurt pretty badly when you went up north to find her, I wanted to see if you were doing better," Hughes answered rather cheerfully.

Ed was slightly startled by that response. He hadn't thought Hughes would worry about rumors about him being injured enough to come check on him, "Oh, thanks I guess. I'm doing a lot better, don't worry. It was nothing too serious, just a few cuts and bruises."

"I'm glad to hear that! So, how's the girl you found doing? I heard she was in awful condition as well," Hughes questioned in his upbeat voice.

"She's doing as well as any of us could expect, really," Ed answered, "And since we're on the topic of her, I have a few warnings for you before you see her. Try not to let her see anything metal, it might scare her. Don't make any sudden movements, she might get aggressive. Don't say too many words to her at once or she'll get confused, and please be careful not to speak too loudly or sound threatening. Also, make sure that if you smile you don't show your teeth, she'll take it as a challenge."

"Wow, Fullmetal, you actually sound like you've been putting effort into something for once," Mustang teased.

"I have to, don't I? I want to make sure she can live normally some day," Ed responded. His response lacked its normal fire. His voice sounded tired.

The change in Ed's normal responses was beginning to worry Mustang, "Edward, if you need someone else to take over caring for her I'm sure I can find someone."

"It's fine, I can handle it. I'm just trying to keep from getting so annoyed about stupid little things," Ed assured with a wave of his hand, "When I get aggravated at something it usually bothers Atlee."

"If you're certain," Mustang was going to be sure to keep an eye on Ed, just in case this was too much for him to handle.

"Come on, I'm sure Atlee will love to see the two of you," Ed's voice was very sarcastic. He led the two to the room he and Al had been staying in, "Remember what I told you to do, now come on in."

"Brother, I'm so glad you're back!" Alphonse cheered quietly. His helmet was gone, and in the corner of the room Atlee was happily moving the helmet around the room much like a dog would with an interesting object.

"How did she get your helmet?" Ed questioned. Even if Atlee were to stand up she was far too short to reach up high enough to grab Alphonse's helmet.

"I was sitting down and she got my helmet," Alphonse explained sheepishly, "She won't give it back, and I'm afraid she's going to try to bite it and hurt her gums."

"Well, she's getting over her fear of metal," Ed sighed as he walked over to Atlee. "Can I have it?" He held his hand out to her as he spoke, as a sign the he wanted what she had.

A low growl rumbled from Atlee's chest as she pulled the helmet closer to herself.

"No," Ed spoke in a firm voice.

Atlee narrowed her eyes at Ed before slinking off across the room and leaving the helmet where it had been.

"Good," Ed praised in a cheerful voice as he returned the helmet to Alphonse.

"It looks like she's gained a bit of weight," Mustang observed.

"Yeah, she'll eat just about anything we put in front of her, so getting her to put weight on hasn't been much of a challenge," Ed nodded, "She's learned quiet a few words, too."

"Really? She's making quick progress," Mustang hadn't expected this.

"Yeah, she's even been trying to form sentences. And she stood up, the other day," Ed continued to explain, "I can't believe how quickly she's progressing. Before long we might even be able to get her to start wearing some variety of clothes. She's also started sleeping a lot more around us, so I think she's starting to trust Al and I."

"That's amazing! Do you think you could get her to say anything?" Hughes asked, enthusiastic as ever.

"I mean, maybe. She's a bit picky about talking, though. Atlee, come here," Ed turned his attention to the feral girl crouched on the other side of the room. He motioned for her to come over with one hand.

She scampered over and plopped down to sit on the floor in front of Ed. Curiously, she tilted her head at the other two, "Who?" With the simple word she pointed to both Mustang and Hughes.

"Roy," Ed knew he would have to apologize for using his superior's first name at a later date, but Atlee still had trouble with longer names. After pointing to Mustang, he then moved to point at Hughes, "Maes."

"Roy!" Atlee barked, scampering over to sniff at Mustang's legs and shoes. She repeated this process with Hughes.

"I think she likes you two," Ed stated. Atlee had sat between the two, and seemed like she wasn't going to move anytime soon. She would occasionally glance up at either Mustang or Hughes to make sure they were staying where they had been a few moments before. "Good luck getting her to leave either of you alone, now."

"Ed!" Atlee yipped, it seemed she was already bored with the other two as she scampered over to Ed.

"Or maybe not," Ed seemed to rethink his previous comment.

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A/N: Ah look, here's another chapter! :P Also, I didn't read over this chapter for errors. Sorry, I'm really tired.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMAB.

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Chapter 11

"Where's Ed going?" Atlee, in a much better vocabulary than she had had when Hughes had first met her, asked her current caretaker. It had been nearly a year since she had first been brought back to Central City by Ed, and she had made amazing progress.

"Don't worry, sweetie, Ed will be back in a few weeks," Hughes answered reassuringly. It had been decided not long after Atlee had fallen under the Elric's care that she would be left with one of a few designated caretakers when the brothers had to go somewhere. This time, Hughes was the lucky person who got to take care of her. Thankfully, Atlee had proved to behave just fine around children, leaving Hughes as one of the first people asked to care for her. After she had proved she couldn't get along with dogs, and they couldn't get along with her, it had been decided that Riza would not be able to care for Atlee when the Elric brothers were gone. She also didn't get along well enough with Mustang to be left with him for more than a day, as she had at one time tried to bite his throat out while he was sleeping, though that had been just a week or two after she had met him, so no one thought it would happen anymore. Really, there were only a few people Edward trusted to take care of Atlee. Among those people were the Hughes family and either Fuery or Falman. It was a bit bothersome to keep her in the dorms, though, so she usually stayed with the Hughes family. It had been a very delicate job, introducing Atlee to Elicia. By the time Atlee met Elicia, though, she was considerably closer to behaving as a normal person than she had been.

"Where's he going?" Atlee still had trouble talking, sometimes, but not very often. Her voice was still a bit hard to understand, though. She had multiple gold or silver teeth, but there were still a lot of gaps in her mouth that made her voice sound odd.

"He's just going out of town. I promise, he won't be gone for long," it broke Maes's heart to see the heart broken look in Atlee's eyes when the Elric brothers left. She always looked like they had betrayed her.

"Why does Ed leave?" Atlee asked.

"He has to work, but he'll come back real soon. In the meantime, would you like some apple pie?" Maes had learned the best way to cheer Atlee up was with food, especially sweets. She loved pie and cake and cookies, but usually Ed was relatively strict about what she could eat so that she wouldn't get sick.

"Pie!" Atlee exclaimed happily, following Maes to the kitchen.

"Dear, you know Edward doesn't like her having very many pieces of pie. You can't keep giving her food like that. It might make her sick," Gracia, who was just as strict with how much pie or other types of sweets Elicia had, scolded.

"Pie," Atlee repeated, just as excited.

"She can have one piece, but please don't promise her anymore sweets, dear," Gracia hated seeing Atlee cry, even though half of the time they were alligator tears she used to get what she wanted. The girl had grown rather clever about things like that. She knew how to fake crying so well sometimes it was hard to tell whether the tears were real or not.

"I won't," Maes promised.

"Do you think you can go get Elicia from her friend's house? I know you're busy, but it would be a big help," Gracia asked a moment later after she had set a plate of pie in front of Atlee. She handed the girl a fork.

Atlee was still a bit awkward when she tried to eat with utensils, but she managed. It had taken quite awhile for everyone to get her to continue eating with utensils, but she had finally learned.

"Atlee, do you want to go to the park later with Elicia?" Gracia asked, taking a seat beside Atlee at the table.

Atlee nodded enthusiastically, her mouth too stuffed to speak.

"I'm sure Elicia will be glad to have someone to play with," Gracia smiled. Atlee had practically become a member of their family. Gracia was very fond of the girl, and she knew Elicia loved to play with the previously feral child.

"The park is fun!" Atlee cheered with a goofy grin.

Gracia smiled warmly at the girl's excitement, "Once Elicia gets home and has a snack, we'll leave. She'll be so excited to see you, Atlee."

"Elicia's nice," Atlee gave another smile. This smile showed off her shiny, metallic teeth. She really did love the company of the other child. They both had about the same level of maturity, so it was no wonder that Atlee got along so well with Elicia.

"Yes, and so are you," Gracia agreed with a smile. Atlee certainly had come quite a long way in the short time that she'd been around humans. In only a year, she had learned to speak and comprehend questions as well as wear clothes, bathe or shower herself, and eat with utensils. She also learned how to hold a conversation, and while sometimes her topics of conversation were a bit dark, it was better than when she couldn't walk on two legs or communicate beyond gesturing. Of course, it had taken a lot of work from a lot of people to get Atlee this far, but no one minded the work they had to do to get her to this point.

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A/N: Thanks so much for reading~ :D It means a lot to me to know that you all read this, and I'm finally starting to get some inspiration to work on this story.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B

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Chapter 12

"I miss Ed and Al," Atlee whined. Ed and Al had been gone for at least a week, off to the desert city of Liore.

"Hey, don't worry, Ed and Al will be back really soon," Maes assured with a bright smile, "Just a few more days, okay? In the mean time, you can help Miss Gracia around the house and Elicia and you can try to read one of your new books together. They'll be back before you know it."

Atlee had developed a habit of referring to Gracia as Miss Gracia, and so many people began referring to her that way around Atlee as well. Atlee had also slowly been learning to read, and with Elicia in her first year of school the two would sometimes read together at home. Usually in the evening they would both practice reading aloud to each other from various picture books, trying to finish the story together. It was just something they did as a family, and while Elicia was at school and Maes was at work Atlee would help Gracia clean around the house.

"I wanna see Ed and Al," Atlee continued whining, stubbornly crossing her arms.

"You can't yet, Atlee. They'll be back soon, though," Maes continued to explain. Repetition tended to be the key to get Atlee to understand something.

"Why do they have to leave?" Atlee asked, she still seemed agitated and far from happy about the situation. It was never good to let her stay angry, so Maes needed to find a way to cheer her up soon or she might lose her temper. She still had a very unstable grasp of her emotions, and it led to problems that kept her from being able to do many normal things. She couldn't attend school, even though she was finally reaching a kindergarten intelligence level, because of her temper. A lot of the times, she couldn't go to the store with Gracia because of her temper, and she could rarely go to crowded places in general because of it.

"For their work, Atlee. Edward is a State Alchemist, so he has to go places to help people a lot. But he won't be gone forever, neither will Alphonse," Maes explained, adding a bit more depth to his assurance.

"I don't want them to be gone though!" she pouted. She was just as childishly stubborn as always, it seemed.

"Maybe when they get back we can all have dinner, okay?" he promised with a smile.

This seemed to finally cheer her up a bit, though she still seemed unhappy about the situation. She felt ignored, because Ed and Al had both been so busy lately that she hadn't been able to see them. Ed was the first human who had been even relatively nice to her, for him to be gone so often made her feel like she had been completely abandoned. Even if she did enjoy her time with the Hughes family, she still got upset with Ed and Al for leaving her behind.

"Maes, dear, you need to leave for work soon or you'll be late," Gracia reminded, walking into the kitchen where the other two were.

"Thank you," Maes thanked, glancing at the quietly ticking clock on the wall, "I'll see you ladies later. It really is almost time for me to leave."

Atlee pouted, quietly sulking because he was leaving too. She was bored and lonely and she wasn't happy. She wanted Ed to come back, but he didn't. She wanted to talk to Maes, but he had to leave. Atlee was beginning to get mad at them for their jobs. She hated their jobs. Their jobs were stupid, in her opinion. She was so grumpy, in fact, that she didn't bother saying goodbye to Maes like she normally did before he left for work.

"Oh, stop frowning like that, Atlee. Do you want to help me make some breakfast?" Gracia had also quickly become one of Atlee's favorite people to be around.

"No," Atlee said. Her tone was stubborn, and her body language showed she was purposefully trying to be disobedient.

"All right, then. I'll have some breakfast ready for you and I soon. What do you want?" Gracia was a phenomenal cook, and Atlee absolutely adored her cooking. The previously feral girl would get extremely over excited about getting to eat anything that Gracia cooked.

"Waffles!" Atlee cheered, suddenly in a much better mood than she had previously been.

"Waffles it is, then. Why don't you go wake Elicia up for me. Remember, be nice about it," Gracia trusted Atlee enough to let the girl wake up Elicia in the mornings if she was up before her. Even though Atlee had nothing to do on a daily basis, she still tended to wake up early almost every morning.

"Okay," Atlee responded, walking off to Elicia's room to wake up the younger girl.

About five minutes later Atlee and Elicia returned to the kitchen, the younger still half asleep with her hair unbrushed and still in her pajamas.

"You'll need to get ready for school soon, Elicia. You're walking with your friends' mother this morning, right?" Gracia asked. Usually she would walk Elicia to school, but Elicia's two best friends' mother had volunteered to take them to school that morning.

"Yeah," Elicia answered sleepily. She was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Why don't you go get dressed, breakfast should be ready by then. Atlee, go change out of your pajamas too," Gracia was mixing waffle batter.

"I think all my clothes are dirty," Elicia yawned.

"I folded some and put them in your room yesterday. Go check," Gracia reminded.

Elicia did as she was told, disappearing back to her room. Atlee quickly left to the guest room of the Hughes house, where she usually stayed. It was close to being her room since she spent so much time with them now, but it was still the guest room.

Both returned a moment later, dressed in clothes suitable for going about the day in.

"Breakfast is on the table, you two," Gracia was cleaning up the kitchen when they got back.

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A/N: Thanks for reading, sorry it's late.


	14. Chapter 14

I'm very, very sorry for this, but I think I'll be taking a bit of a break from this story. Writing it is very hard for me because I get very bad writer's block, and I hate my writing style in it. I've got a lot of other stories I'm pre-writing chapters for before school because they generally take so long to finish as chapter of, and this is just getting in the way of that. I should start it up soon, again, sorry, it's just a bit necessary.


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